GUNNEVERA CAMP ENJOYING HAPPIER TRAVELS
by DWC Notes Team Member Tom Peacock
There is much more of a spring to the step to all those associated with Dubai World Cup sponsored by Emirates Airline hopeful Gunnevera this year – including the horse himself.
The leading light of Antonio Sano’s stable set off for the race 12 months ago in the richest of form only for everything to unravel as soon as he was back down on the ground, failing to offer much in finishing eighth behind Thunder Snow.
“Last year he came with a bit of colic off the plane, he had a bad night and the doctor came,” Sano’s son and assistant, Alex, said.
“The next stage he wasn’t eating very well and he had a little hoof issue, it all went the opposite way. It wasn’t our week. We knew it was going to be tough from the start we had, and regardless of that he still ran a good race.”
Sano, a dominant champion trainer in his native Venezuela, has a well-documented back story including being kidnapped, but has transferred his talents without a problem, becoming a major player on the South Florida circuit.
Under his tutelage, Gunnevera was soon back in the winning swing in allowance company last August.
“We gave him three months off on the farm to let the hoof regrow and brought him back midsummer,” Alex explained.
“We took him to New York, he was second in the Woodward at Saratoga and then second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He picked it up real quickly.”
Following a luckless sixth in the Pegasus World Cup, the five-year-old has looked in fine shape on his return to the United Arab Emirates for the US$12million showdown.
“This year it’s all going right and let’s hope it stays that way,” said Alex Sano. “He shipped very well, he’s adapted to the environment with no issues at all, and we’re very happy to see that.”
Turning his attention to the race, he added: “He’s been improving and improving, he ran one of his best races in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, he went very close to winning. He’s been knocking on that door for a Grade 1, which is coming very soon.
“It’s not going to be easy, it’s a top race and the best horses are going to be here, including last year’s winner and some American shippers. Everyone’s going to be fancying their chances.”
Gunnevera has already taken his cosmopolitan connections into the focus of the world stage, and there is no doubt he means an awful lot to those closest to him.
“He’s very silly, a very funny horse who always likes to fool around,” Alex Sano said fondly. “You’ve always got to watch him. But he’s one of the best horses in the barn who ever came through, he always hypes up the barn. He’s just one of those who gets you up in the morning to go training, he’s that exciting.”
A DREAM COME TRUE FOR PHOENIX THOROUGHBREDS
by DWC Notes Team Member Sarah Tregoning
In four days’ time, Amer Abdulaziz will stand in the parade ring at Meydan Racecourse while two horses owned by Phoenix Thoroughbreds Ltd make their way to the start of the Group 1 US$12m Dubai World Cup sponsored by Emirates Airline.
For Abdulaziz, the organization’s founder, this represents a significant high spot in his racing career. Yet three short months ago it could have been a very different story for the Bahraini businessman who on Tuesday was contemplating the road to the Dubai World Cup for his two runners.
When Axelrod and Gronkowski, the two high-class US imports who will carry the Phoenix Thoroughbreds Ltd colours, arrived in the UAE in early January they had lost a lot of condition. Abdulaziz explains that it was a fight against time to have them ready for a prep race in March.
“They got here a bit late to be honest and that was due to the changing quarantine rules for permanent imports,” said Abdulaziz. “They had to do almost 40 days quarantine and when that happens in the USA they can get stuck without getting the right exercise and training because with a valuable horse like that they don’t want to risk anything happening that will delay travel.
“When I went to see them in quarantine in March they had lost weight. But if you look at them now the change in them is incredible. Their coats are shiny and they have bright eyes and I would say they are back to normal.”
Gronkowski, who is part-owned by New England Patriots wide-receiver Rob Gronkowski, for whom the colt is named, was second in the Grade 1 2018 Belmont Stakes while two-time Grade 3 winner, Axelrod was ninth in the Breeder’s Cup Classic.
Prepared by recently-reinstated trainer, Salem Bin Ghadayer at Al Aryam Stables in Dubai, the pair underwent a training programme that saw them train as usual in the mornings and visit the equine spa in the afternoons in order to boost their health and fitness.
The training program worked and they both lined up for the Group 1 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 on Super Saturday on March 9, 2019 with Gronkowski finishing a respectable fifth and Axelrod lower down the field in ninth.
“We did get them to a prep race and in our opinion Gronkwoski ran great, especially considering he was only 70 per cent ready,” said Abdulaziz. “And they have both come on so much for that run and are even better horses today.”
Both horses did a final breeze on Tuesday morning with the third Bin Ghadayer-trained Dubai World Cup runner, Capezzano also stretching his legs at the track.
Abdulaziz predicts a wide-open race on Saturday.
“It’s all to play for,” he said. “There are horses that need to lead like Capezzano and Thunder Snow and that could work very well for our horses who could end up sitting behind them in third or fourth until the end.”
And his thoughts on Phoenix Thoroughbred Ltd having its first two Dubai World Cup runners?
“It’s a dream for us,” said Abdulaziz who founded Phoenix Thoroughbreds in 2017 and has since had success at Royal Ascot. “The excitement is really there for me, there’s no doubt about it. You wait for years for the moment to come and finally the dream is becoming a reality. Maybe two days ago I didn’t have that feeling but as the race gets closer and I’m talking to people I’m getting more and more excited. I’ll watch from the back of the Parade Ring because when our horses run I start jumping up and down and yelling and throwing my race card.”
A NEW STRATEGY FOR A BETTER PAVEL
by DWC Notes Team Member Liz Price
California-based trainer Doug O’Neill is hoping that fitting Pavel with blinkers when he runs in the Dubai World Cup sponsored by Emirates Airline on Saturday is going to bring out the best in the 5-year-old son of Creative Cause. Already fourth in last year’s edition, Pavel is very likeable individual, easily recognizable thanks to his grey coloring and powerful stride.
Like many other horses that have travelled to Dubai in the past, he seems to thrive in the desert sun and his trainer never hesitated when he received the invitation to return to Meydan. “When we got the invite, we were very grateful and excited,” O’Neill said. “Pavel was doing well; he was super healthy, happy. He has shown numerous times and last year with a very credible run in Dubai that he runs really well when he is on the road. Travelling is not a problem for him and the US$12 million purse doesn’t hurt anyone either. It is just a great opportunity. There are a couple of tough ones in there, but I think it is a pretty evenly matched race that is pretty much wide open.”
Not so long ago, Pavel had travelled to Japan where he ran in the Grade 1 Champions Cup at Chukyo racecourse. But unlike Meydan, he never took to the track and failed to sparkle. Since he has arrived in Dubai, he has loved the early morning gallops and his trainer continues: “I think he is a bigger, stronger version compared to last year. Of course the race will tell us a lot, but I am very happy the way he is doing. He has matured into such a class older horse and he has shown tons of energy in his morning exercises. And this time round Joel Rosario will be riding him and that will be an extra addition. It will be a real exciting race to watch for us.”
Up until now, Pavel had always been partnered by Mario Gutierrez, who is O’Neill’s stable jockey. Gutierrez has won the Kentucky Derby twice for the O’Neill yard, first in 2012 with I’ll Have Another and then again in 2016 with Nyquist. “I have tons of respect for Mario, who is our guy, but Mario opted to stay in California to ride in a Grade 1 for the same owner,” O’Neill clarified. “It is always intriguing to go from our guy, a solid guy and a Grade 1, Derby-winning jockey to another solid guy like Joel Rosario, who is also a tremendous rider. It shouldn’t hurt us at all. Just fresh hands, a fresh outlook and hopefully a great result.”
Rosario will be hoping for a repeat of the year 2013 when he won the Dubai World Cup on board Animal Kingdom. He knows what it takes to win this famous race, but Rosario is not the only change that connections have made regarding Pavel’s Dubai World Cup bid. In fact, the winner of the Stephen Foster Handicap (G1) is going to wear blinkers for the first time in a race and his trainer concluded: “Pavel is a true racehorse. He is very kind, very professional and I would be shocked if Joel is not in love with him comes race time. He is going to have blinkers on in the race on Saturday.
“He is so willing in the morning. He doesn’t act like a horse that needs blinkers, but we put blinkers on in the morning and he is just as willing. So we thought it would be kind of a little shake-up if you will, and maybe have him a little bit more forward placed without Joel having to do a whole lot early. And Joel and Pavel can save all the energy for the last quarter of a mile (400m).”
Gloria de Campeao, African Story and Prince Bishop are all horses that had been placed in the Dubai World Cup before winning it. Could Pavel be the next one to add his name to the list?